Debbie Young

Favorite Quote:

I looked him up and down. There was something about him that made me uneasy. Perhaps it was that he had dressed like a cartoon spy? He even had a furled copy of the Daily Telegraph under his arm. I wondered whether, if he opened it up, there’d be holes cut in the pages for his eyes.

It just goes to show that you should never underestimate the elderly. They were all young once, and you never knew what their back story might be.

To my relief, Mrs Shepherd laughed and laughed, as show more if I’d made a hilarious joke. ‘Oh, good Lord, I’m not ill. I’m not sick in any way, praise be. Living in the refrigerators that pass for vicarages for thirty years has hardened me against physical illness. Any germs that cling on to me when I’m out and about leap off and run the minute I enter my front door, driven by their instincts for self-preservation.’

Suki’s method is always at risk of Chinese Whispers distorting the message in the process. That’s one reason why Suki’s gossip is always such fun– it’s a heady blend of fact and fiction, and not to be taken seriously without a fact check.

I defy anyone walking into a police station not to feel a little nervous, as if they’re about to be rumbled for some inadvertent misdemeanour.

My Review:

This was an entertaining and amusing tale, and I also learned 2 new things from perusing this fun little missive. I had never heard of a Wendy house, but Mr. Google has informed me that it is what the British call a children’s playhouse, and was named after Wendy Darling from Peter Pan. How precious is that? I also learned about the elaborate Japanese collectable art of netsuke, something I didn’t expect to happen from reading a British cozy mystery, but there you have it. And my mother always chided me for reading fiction, saying it was a waste of time.
The writing style is well-polished, humorous, easy to follow, and comfortably engaging. I enjoyed the author's wry wit and colorful descriptions, which conjured vivid images in my mind's eye. I will be watching for future installments of this lively series. show less

When the least-liked woman in Wendlebury Barrow collapses inside a headless Anne Boleyn costume while tied to the rail of a float in the village show, newcomer Sophie Sayers, like all the other villagers, accepts the verdict of death by natural causes.

She’s more consumed by doubts about how her great aunt May died: was she murdered by ancient neighbour Joshua who keeps appearing without warning in the garden? And what exactly are Hector the bookshop owner’s mysterious business show more activities?

“What had begun as a simple proposition - to live in a rent-free cottage, in a pleasant stable community while pursuing the writing ambitions that I’d held since childhood - now seemed fraught with traps, difficulties and dangers”.

By Chapter Four, “The Alphabetical Shop”, I was so intrigued by a heroine who shops for “just the essentials” - shortbread, cake, chocolate, wine - at Carols’ shop where you find the postcards by the plums and The Times by the turnips, that I had accidentally spoiled several pages with, umm, coffee and food stains.

But I had to read on, regardless of meal times. Who wouldn’t want to jump into the next chapters when they're titled “Reader, I Left Him”, “The Cream of the Bookshop”, “Writers Afloat”, or “Beware of the Wardrobe”.

By gifting us with Sophie Sayers and Wendlebury Barrow, Debbie Young entertains with barmy characters, blooming gardens, cliques within community groups, and dreams of romance in an apparently bachelor-free village .

Along the way readers are also treated with the perils of writer’s block (falling asleep in the garden, in Sophie’s case), fun with cliches, and joyous little book references such as when Hector gives Greene’s “Travels with my Aunt” to Sophie.

Look out also for Debbie Young’s "Best Murder in Show", “Trick or Murder” and “Murder in a Manger”. Asking for them at your friendly local (or village) book shop would be most appropriate for a novel in which a very entrepreneurial book shop features prominently. show less

{first of 4 in Staffroom at St Bride's series; boarding school, contemporary, English countryside, Cotswolds}(2019/ 2022)

BB (I said stop! people) from the Green Dragon group.

I was hit by a book bullet and read Dastardly Deeds at St Bride's which was originally titled Secrets at St Bride's; it looks like all the original titles, which were more like those found on girls' school stories of yore, were retitled to make them sound more dramatic. If you grew up reading boarding school stories (and show more still do, occasionally), this one is for you; but this series is about the teachers rather than the pupils. The setting is contemporary - the older girls get (supervised/ limited) use of smartphones, for example.

Gemma Lamb, needing to get away from her controlling boyfriend, takes a job as an English teacher at St Bride's boarding school, housed in a former stately home, in the Cotswolds. She's anxious to do well over her probationary period so she can stay on as the school gives her somewhere to hide and a place to live as well as a career that Steven had denied her. She discovers that the school is a haven for the children of rich parents who neglect them and that the other staff have their secrets too (Gemma's being that she has no teaching experience beyond her teacher training qualification and she's worried that it will count against her).

The book opens with a prologue where someone is being attacked and then the first chapter (the main part of the book is written in the first person) starts with Gemma crossing the school's imposing front hall as she is about to start her first term at St Bride's. She is met by Oriana Bliss, one of the handful of other teachers, who shows her to her flat and warns her not to end up 'like poor Caroline'. But who is Caroline? Despite Gemma’s anxiety about being up to the task she finds that her students have been well drilled and her store cupboard well stocked by her predecessor, whoever she was (the school prospectus states that the school has an all-female staff) and she soon settles in. But she discovers that the school is in financial difficulties, so she could lose her sanctuary, and then she starts stumbling over the other staff’s secrets.

A fun, fairly light-hearted romp (apart from the prologue) through the first half term of the school year in an English boarding school for girls - but from the staff's point of view. According to Wikipedia, Young was a teacher at a Cotswolds boarding school for many years. We mainly see Gemma getting to know the staff and the school although there is some interaction with the girls too, who are believable characters. Easy going and the adventures don't require suspension of disbelief though some mysteries (to Gemma and us) are still left to be solved, presumably in future books. I’m looking forward to finding out.

(October 2025)
3.5 stars show less

When Alice is contacted by her ex, asking her to sell off his collection of chess sets, she agrees. With the aid of her lodger and her neighbour, they plan a chess tournament at the local school to attract buyers while also creating interest for a chess club among the students. All goes well until they discover a dead body in the school parking lot.

For the most part, I enjoyed Death at the Village Chess Club by Debbie Young. It is an engaging cozy mystery with a mostly likeable cast of show more characters. My main criticism is Alice who, although 50, comes off as much younger, almost like an immature adolescent at times. The story also started out fairly slowly as and it was almost 40% of the way before anything much happened. I will say, though, that when it did, it got very entertaining and kept my interest right through to the end.

I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Boldwood Books in exchange for an honest review show less